The end of promo singles? (Sort of)

Are any of you in radio/press finding the same phenomenon that I am? Over the past 6 months, we've gotten more and more promos burnt as CD-Rs. These often without catalog numbers or other useful info. It seems as though the labels might be burning these in small quantities, with mix/listing changes possible at any point along the run.

It makes sense, of course, if it cuts costs. So does the use of disc-free digital servicing. At the same time, I'm sure I'm not the only one here who would mourn the loss of hard-copy promos. Anyone else have any observations?

What's even worse, I read an article (I think linked from BSN) that said, more and more, commercial CDs are actually mixed so they will sound good as 128kb MP3s... and to hell with how they sound on a good stereo system.


Edited by Brian W.

eric_a wrote: Are any of you in radio/press finding the same phenomenon that I am? Over the past 6 months, we've gotten more and more promos burnt as CD-Rs. These often without catalog numbers or other useful info. It seems as though the labels might be burning these in small quantities, with mix/listing changes possible at any point along the run. It makes sense, of course, if it cuts costs. So does the use of disc-free digital servicing. At the same time, I'm sure I'm not the only one here who would mourn the loss of hard-copy promos. Anyone else have any observations?

I'd certainly miss factory-pressed promo CD singles from the standpoint that it would likely make it more difficult for Top 40 music collectors to document official radio edits without having any catalog numbers to reference!